AKRON, Ohio, Oct. 12, 2011– The bad news is: approximately 230,480 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. The good news is: if detected early, a woman has up to a 93 percent five-year survival rate.

Mammograms detect 80-90 percent of breast cancers in women with no symptoms but unfortunately, not everyone can afford an annual screening mammography. To help meet this need, Summa Health System created Summa Screens, a cancer screening program that provides free mammograms and breast ultrasounds to low-income, uninsured and underinsured women.

Summa Screens received financial support from the American Cancer Society, East Central Division, Inc. as well as private donors but additional funding is still needed. An easy way to contribute to Summa Screens is to “like” Summa Health System on Facebook (click here or go to www.Facebook.com/summahealth). For each new like in the month of October, the Summa Foundation will donate $1 to Summa Screens. The goal is 1,000 new likes.

“Through the use of screening mammography and other efforts, breast cancer mortality has declined throughout the past several years,” said Marlo Schmidt, coordinator for cancer outreach and education for the Jean and Milton Cooper Cancer Center. “It’s important every woman who is 40 and older and/or is high risk receives her annual mammogram. But for those women who have financial barriers to obtaining mammograms, Summa Screens can be a life-saving option.”

Unless a person is high risk, women beginning at 40 years of age should get annual screening mammograms as well as annual clinical breast examinations. In women aged 20-39, clinical breast exams can be performed every one to three years. All women should perform monthly self breast exams.

Summa Screens is intended to assist women between the ages of 40 and 64 who need screening mammograms (most women aged 65 or older qualify for free mammograms through Medicare). Women 40 years and younger may be eligible for a mammogram if they are experiencing symptoms or if close relatives had breast cancer. Any woman interested in the program is encouraged to call (330) 375-7300 to learn more about the qualification process.

About Summa Health System Summa Health System is one of the largest integrated healthcare delivery systems in Ohio. Encompassing a network of hospitals, community health centers, a health plan, a physician-hospital organization, a multi-specialty physician organization, research and multiple foundations, Summa is nationally renowned for excellence in patient care and for exceptional approaches to healthcare delivery. Summa's clinical services are consistently recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (Magnet status), U.S. News and World Report, Thomson Reuters and The Leapfrog Group. Summa also is a founding partner of the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron. For more information, visit www.summahealth.org or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/summahealth and Twitter at www.twitter.com/summahealth.